Orange Spiral Arts

Watercolor Wednesday-Permission to Play and the Reasons Why

Hello Dear One,

How are you doing today? If you are feeling "under the gun" or a little blue, I want to encourage you to pull out any set of watercolor paint, a brush, a jar of water, and a piece of watercolor paper. I like 140 lb. watercolor paper, but use what you have. 

Here's what I did for today's post. I played. First, I put some water on my paper in a loose top to bottom, organic shape. Next I chose a color to dip my brush into. Third, I applied the color on my brush into the wet surface and watched the paint go!

Sometimes I'd drag my brush back and forth.

Sometimes I'd paint some wiggly lines or flowing shapes. 

This process was very relaxing and almost meditative for me.

I surrendered. I let go.

I played, and it felt so good.

I highly encourage you to give this exercise a try. It's almost a miracle to just be.

Be present in the moment with your paint, water, and brush.

Look close and notice something new.

Observe and feel in your body a sense of calm.

A sense of joy in discovery.

A sense of satisfaction in taking a few moments for yourself.

Wherever you are, I am sending you compassion and love.

Blessings,

Briana

 

Brené Brown Training at Pathways in Minneapolis, MN and the Power of the Expressive Arts

Hello and Happy Day to You!

I am writing today about my experience at a weekend long Brené Brown training at Pathways in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mostly I will be talking about the power of the expressive arts as a way to process information and emotion. 

THE POWER OF THE VISION BOARD MAKING PROCESS

First I have to tell you how amazing it is to me that this weekend training was offered, I was available, and invited to attend.

You see, on two of my vision boards from the past couple of years, I have had something about Brené Brown on each one. When making vision boards, you are letting images choose you. You learn to listen to that gut reaction of "yes", and you gather images that call to you. You don't need to understand or know why, you just listen to that inner voice and grab that image.

So on my two vision boards, here's what I have. On one I have a cut out image of the Daring Greatly book I found in a magazine. The other vision board simply has her name "Brené Brown" next to the words "Expand Your Horizons", which came from a different source.

Interesting, right?

I knew that people I admired were talking about the work of Brené Brown, but I wasn't all that familiar with her work myself. There was just something there for me, so I listened to that inner voice.

After being invited to attend this weekend intensive training at Pathways, I hit up my local library for Brené's books and audio books. I listened to Rising Strong and loved it! I've heard that reading the book itself can be challenging. Brené's work is better listened to or seen live or on video. Click here to see Brené's videos.

A SUMMARY OF BRENÉ BROWN'S WORK

To summarize briefly, Brené does qualitative research to learn about human behavior and experience. She wants to know what the people who keep showing up to live a full life have in common. We all go through struggles and experience loss. However, some people seem to stay stuck, while others are able to move through it. 

One of the main points Brené Brown makes is that being brave means you are going to fall. And the more attempts you make at being brave, the more you're going to fall. The key is to get back up, dust yourself off, seek support from those who have earned your trust, and do it all over again. When you do show up to life, you get to really experience life. Yes, you'll experience pain and heart break, but you also get to experience joy, love, peace, and dare I say, bliss. Brené calls this "whole-hearted living". Being wholehearted is believing that you are enough with all of your imperfections and knowing that you are still worthy of being loved anyway. Note, these are my own interpretations, so it's best to read or listen to Brené's material to get her direct definitions. 

Brené Brown's process of Rising Strong gives people some language and ideas around how to get back up when you're face down. A lot has to do with the stories that we tell ourselves in our brains, but these stories are not always true. Brené encourages people to identify when they've been triggered emotionally, so that the individual can take a deeper look at what's causing those emotions. The Rising Strong process is broken down into "The Reckoning", "The Rumble", and "The Revolution". In other words, "Stop. I feel emotionally triggered. What's going on here?" "Let me take a deeper look at myself and figure this out." and "Here's the truth of the matter. Now I see things differently."

Within all of this, it's important to remember that there's no such thing as perfect. No one's life is perfect, no matter how wonderful it all seems from the outside. The human experience is messy. We will all experience grief, and grief is hard. It takes courage to be vulnerable, and we all have special gifts to share with the world. Most importantly, we are all worthy of love and belonging.

MY EXPERIENCE AT THE WEEKEND INTENSIVE TRAINING AT PATHWAYS IN BRENÉ BROWN'S WORK 

Brené's intense curiosity about people's resiliency reminds me of the question I asked while doing my graduate studies in Human Development. The question I asked was, "How do people heal from emotional pain?"

Pathways has been on my radar since I was in graduate school over ten years ago. However, I only walked through the door about one year ago. I am now a certified Renewing Life facilitator, and specifically, I facilitate Renewing Life through the Expressive Arts. Since I am a volunteer at Pathways, that's how I was invited to this weekend workshop on Brené Brown's work.

I am so grateful for Pathways, the staff, the practitioners, and the volunteers. Carol Burling, the Program Manager, did her graduate work on shame. She later studied with Brené Brown. The weekend intensive training in Brené's work was facilitated by Carol. Carol integrated the expressive arts throughout the weekend's training. We did sandplay, doodling, drawing, writing, listened to many poems, engaged in breath work, as well as some creative movement. Carol invited some of the workshop participants to lead us in various breathing and movement exercises. The whole body and BEing was recognized and invited into the experience of the weekend. All things were integrated, mind, body, spirit, and soul. 

Below are some examples of the sandplay items that were available for us to choose.

I took each lunch break as an opportunity to express my feelings and thoughts through art making. This was very grounding for me. As I mentioned this was an intensive training; there was a lot of information to process mentally and emotionally.

On the second day of the training, we placed a few items in our sand tray. Then we were asked to draw what was in our sand tray.

Below is my sand tray at the beginning of day two. 

Here's a part of my drawing below.

I like to incorporate words with my images, but that's only my personal preference. I think that's my way of engaging both sides of my brain.

Here's another part of my drawing of my sand tray at the beginning of day two.

We watched Brené's DVDs over the weekend, talked in dyads, small groups, and within the larger group. There was a lot of getting up and down, so our bodies could both stretch and absorb all that we were learning. Carol was fantastic at reading the room and checking in with us to see how we were all doing.

We received handouts, copies of poems, and were able to peruse a plethora of resources, thanks to Carol Burling and Pathways.

I am completely grateful for this experience. I learned so much and am filled up by the experience I had at this weekend intensive training in Brené Brown's work. I spent the past six hours writing this blog post for you in the hope that you may feel inspired to learn more about yourself and your emotions. I want you to know that no one is perfect, and please don't expect yourself to be. Perfectionism is a losing battle. I want you to know that you are worthy of love and belonging as you are, with all of your fear, pain, and imperfections.

This is all very personal work. I am attempting to be both vulnerable and brave with what I am sharing here. If you have comments to share with me, or questions to ask me, I would appreciate it if you would check in with yourself first, and comment from a place of love. Thank you kindly! I would love to hear your thoughts about this post.

Thank you for being here!

Blessings to You,

Briana

 

 

Watercolor Wednesday-To Gesso or Not to Gesso-Colorful Watercolor Dots on Old Typewriter Paper

Hello, Howdy, and Good Day!

Thank you for taking a look at another Watercolor Wednesday blog post, here on OrangeSpiralArts.com

Today, I am using two sheets of old typewriter paper, Pelikan watercolor paint, a brush, and gesso (on one paper).

I had some typewriter paper out from the texture rubbings post I shared on Monday. 

Are you curious how a thin paper like old typewriter paper would handle watercolor paint? Me, too! 

I gessoed one sheet of old typewriter paper and left one sheet as is.

Next, I proceeded to paint colorful watercolor dots on the plain sheet of old typewriter paper, while the gesso dried on the other sheet.

Painting these sweet, colorful dots took me longer than expected. 

However, the process was quite meditative and enjoyable.

I kind of felt like Eric Carle.

Now, it's time to move onto the gessoed typewriter paper.

What I noticed when using watercolor over gesso, was that the paint did not flow as much. It grabbed onto the texture, and I had to do more dragging with my brush. Also, the gritty gesso texture can be seen through the watercolor dots.

I think it will be a personal preference whether you like the gessoed texture or the plain paper.

Close-up of colorful watercolor dots on gessoed paper:

Close-up of colorful watercolor dots on plain paper:

Do you see the difference? Visually, which one do you prefer?

And I kept on painting those dots until I had two completed papers.

A side by side comparison:

And one more, a little closer:

This was really relaxing, and I highly recommend painting colorful watercolor dots!

Are you intrigued by color and artful color patterns? I have a workshop coming out on Monday, September 26 called "Draw, Paint, and Print Artful Color Patterns". It's part of the fabulous 21 Secrets Color, Color, Color workshop series. I have seen some sneak peeks of the other workshops offered, and you don't want to miss this! There are 23 other teachers, and we're all talking about color! Each artist has their own unique approach to how they use and think about color. You'll get to explore neons, neutrals, pastels, bright colors, and mix of other fantastic tips on playing with color. Find out more and get your downloadable, full color, 21 Secrets Color, Color, Color PDF on September 26, 2016!

Please use the link from my Orange Spiral Arts page, so I may get credit for your purchase. That is how I get paid as a contributor to 21 Secrets Color, Color, Color workshop series. Thank you kindly for your interest and support!

Blessings to you,

Briana

NEW Gelli Art Prints with the Labyrinth Series Stencils from artistcellar

Hello Everyone,

Did you hear the great news? There is now a Labyrinth Series stencil set in the artistcellar shop! Yes, you read that right. My jaw dropped about a foot when I saw them! You’re going to fall in love with them, too!

Immediately, I thought of how awesome these Labyrinth stencils will be to use with the eight inch round Gelli Plate. So, let the experiments begin!

ANASAZI

The first Labyrinth stencil I grabbed is Anasazi. The design is really, really cool! The image I am sharing doesn’t do it justice, but I was only getting warmed up. That’s a good lesson for you to remember, too. You’ll need to warm up, just like an athlete, before you really get into the zone.

What you are seeing is the Lime and Lemon Dina Wakley paint printed over an initial orange Anasazi Labyrinth stencil print.

Moving right along . . .

CHARTRES

Here I am using Blick Matte Acrylics in the following colors: Brilliant Magenta, Yellow Deep, and Sage Blue. I rolled out the paint with a soft rubber brayer. Then the Gelli Plate looked like this:

I placed the Chartres Labyrinth stencil on top and pulled a print.

Next, I removed the stencil from the plate and pulled a second print (the ghost print).

TIP: If you move quickly enough, sometimes you can pull a third print from the wet stencil you set to the side. If you use Golden OPEN acrylic paint, you have a longer working time. If you are using craft acrylic or student grade acrylic paint, you can mix a medium like Traci Bautista’s Collage Pauge with your paint as you roll it out on the Gelli Plate.

I tried another color combination and method of printing the Chartres Labyrinth stencil, too.

First I rolled out some orange and orange-red craft paint, and then pulled a print.

Next I placed the Chartres stencil on the pulled print. I mixed my own color using Dina Wakley’s Sky and Blackberry Violet heavy body acrylic paints.

Then with a cosmetic wedge, I dabbed the color over the stencil on top of that glorious orange circle.

Ta da!

GONZAGA

For the Gonzaga Labyrinth stencil, I tried yet another method of getting that stencil print.

I rolled out the Lime and Lemon Dina Wakley paints. I placed the Gonzaga stencil on the wet Gelli Plate. Then I used a cosmetic wedge to add a subtle color. I removed the stencil and pulled the print. Keep in mind all of these decisions are happening quickly because acrylic paint dries really fast! (As I mentioned earlier in this post, you can always add an extender medium, if you need a longer working time).

I tried to get an action shot for you, of me dabbing the color through the stencil on the Gelli Plate. Do you see that cosmetic wedge in the upper left of the image above?

TIP: Some people like to put duct tape around the edges of their stencils to give them more room to apply paint to the outside edges of the stencil, without “messing up” beyond the stencil edge.

CRETE

As you can see, I love color, but something was calling me to make a black and white Crete Labyrinth print.

I rolled out black acrylic paint onto the Gelli Plate and placed the Crete Labyrinth stencil on top.

With the stencil on the plate, I pulled a print.

Next I removed the stencil from the plate and pulled the ghost print.

I quickly went to the wet stencil and made a third print.

These two are my favorites from the black and white Crete Labyrinth prints.

SUMMARY

Hopefully you now have a number of ways to play with the NEW Labyrinth Series stencils. Here are three of the methods shown above:

1. Put the stencil on the wet Gelli Plate, remove the stencil, and then pull a print.
2. Roll out some paint, place the stencil on the Gelli Plate, leave the stencil on the Gellli Plate, and pull a print.
3. Roll out some paint, place the stencil on the Gelli Plate, and apply another color of paint through the stencil. Remove the stencil, and then pull a print.

I am sure as you play around, you will come up with even more ways!

TIP: Make notes on the back of your prints about paint used, and how you got that print. Since you are working fast, you may not always remember later! Trust me, I am speaking from experience.

Thank you for reading this post. Have fun!

If you’d like to learn more about color, I am a guest teacher in the upcoming 21 Secrets Color, Color, Color workshop series. Read all about it on my Orange Spiral Arts blog here.

All of my best,

Briana

Texture Rubbings as Marks

Hello and Welcome to another edition of Mark Making Monday here on OrangeSpiralArts.com

Today I am offering a playful way to add marks to your art or visual journal pages.

Do you remember doing crayon rubbings over texture plates as a child? If you do, this concept will be familiar to you.

I found some old typewriter paper at the thrift store recently. I simply love the weight, feel, and texture of this paper.

That is the paper I will be using in the pictures posted.

Some other paper suggestions are: deli paper, tracing paper, or copy paper works, too. You don't want paper that is too thick.

Now, grab some stencils, or textured wallpaper, plastic doilies or lace placemat, etc. Basically you are looking for things you have around you that have a texture when you rub your finger over the surface. Flat items work best, but experiment with whatever you've got! Maybe a rubber hot pad or trivet is waiting for you in your kitchen??

Next, find your oil pastels or Portfolio water-soluble oil pastels.

Place your paper over the item with texture, and use the oil pastel to create the mark.

You might consider experimenting with different colors.

I love this piece of textured wallpaper. It is well-loved and well-used.

Foam texture sheets work great, too! Again, these foam texture sheets are well-loved and well-used items in my mixed media art arsenal.

After you have these marks on paper, you can do plenty more with them. 

Here are some ideas:

• create a rubbing
• cover the paper with white gesso
• use the rubbing in a collage
• add paint and text over the top of the rubbing

Have fun playing with your art supplies and household textured items!

Blessings to you,

Briana

Color, Color, Color Has My Heart-Special Announcement about 21 Secrets Fall 2016 Edition Color, Color, Color

Color is one of the things I am most grateful for in this life. Ever since I was a child, playing with large boxes of crayons, colored pencils, and markers is what thrills me most. With that being said, I am so happy, excited, and pretty much ecstatic to be one of the 24 teachers in the fall 2016 edition of 21 Secrets Color, Color, Color!

I have been working hard all summer preparing for my workshop in 21 Secrets Color, Color, Color. My workshop is called, "Draw, Paint, and Print Artful Color Patterns." 

This fall, on Monday, September 26th, you'll have the chance to meet 24 amazing teachers who are sharing their best color secrets with you. If you register today, or at least by Friday, August 19th, you can SAVE $10 (enter coupon code: COLOR). 

What you'll receive is a downloadable PDF of 150+ pages, over 25 hours of videos, and the opportunity to connect in the 21 Secrets Facebook Community.

I do hope you'll join us. This is going to be ridiculously fun! We all need a little more playtime in our lives. 

See you soon!

Sending you colorful and playful energy!

Many Blessings,

Briana

The Mark of Flow: Flow Like the River Art Workshop at Olivet Congregational Church

Hello and Happy Mark Making Monday to You! Thanks for being here!

Today I am sharing some photos from the recent Flow Like the River Art Workshop I taught at Olivet Congregational Church.

These are the marks of flow, and they look different for everyone. That's the beauty of living-in the flow-around the flow-to the flow-away from flow-and back again.

If your heart and soul long to paint like this, I invite you to take a peek at the online e-course I offer, called The Beautiful BEing Program. The Flow Like the River Art Workshop is based on one of the lessons in the self-paced e-course, The Beautiful BEing Program.

I would like to thank all of the participants in the Flow Like the River Art Workshop from Olivet. It was a pleasure to be together.

May you find your own rhythm, so that your life may flow like the river.

Many Blessings to You,

Briana

Freedom through Painting Friday Collides with #ArtJournalJam

Howdy Ya'll! Thanks so much for stopping by OrangeSpiralArts.com or for opening this email post. 

I would like to thank Connie Solera and Natasha Reilly for helping me get my act together for my Friday blog posts. Connie and Natasha are now on Episode 3 of the Friday #artjournaljam, of which I am having a blast with!

Today, Connie makes some really exciting announcements during the video. There's also a clip in the video that gave me a really good laugh that I totally needed today! So, without further ado, I will post the photos of the artful journal pages I created while listening to Episode 3 of Art Journal Jam.

I started out with some new paints I was eager to explore.

In my palette, I have Blick matte acrylics, Artist's Loft Flow acrylics, Blick tempera (orange), and Blickrylic (Fluorescent Violet).

I mostly played with pattern, color, and shape.

I also played with a Catalyst mini blade size 04 by Princeton. Visit Princetonbrush.com for more information on their fabulous and fun painting tools!

There's always a bit of wisdom that comes from listening to #ArtJournalJam episodes. Today, I gathered this: Plant prayers within the walls.

I still had paint on my palette, and Connie and Natasha were still talking, so  . . . I made more art journal pages full of color!

Just in case you haven't tried it, or haven't tried it as an adult, scribbling with paint feels really, really good!

I played around with mixing colors on the page below. I am really loving the lime green that I made with the Artist's Loft green and the Blick matte acrylic Yellow Bright color. I also drew into the wet paint with the end of my brush to create the circles and spirals. You know me, I've got to have those spirals!

Last but not least, as I swooped my finger into the very last drops of paint in my palette wells, I created this orange and dotted page below.

 

May your days be filled with love. May your days be filled with color. May your heart return to joy. May your life feel free and peaceful.

Blessings to you,

Briana

Faith, Hope, and Grace-A Handmade Greeting Card and an Art Journal Page using Supplies from artistcellar

Good Day to You! Below is the blog post that went live on Monday, August 8th, 2016 over at artistcellar.com

 

Hello Lovely Creative Folks,

I created a couple of things, using a lot of artistcellar products. I am so excited to share my playtime with you!

First, I am using the Virtues Words-Pocket Stencils.

There are four words, and I am using three of them: Faith, Hope, and Grace.

Don’t those words just make you feel a little warm and fuzzy inside?

With that feeling in mind, I created a greeting card.

I set the three virtue words of Faith, Hope, and Grace out on a blank card. Then I sprayed them twice; once with bubblegum pink Dylusions spray ink, then with Adirondack Sailboat Blue spray dye.

See the photos below:

I rolled up the extra ink with some paper towels. (I learned that trick from a Dina Wakley video, I think).

Next, I cleaned off the inked up stencils with a baby wipe on top of a blank page in my art journal. (I will be showing more on that in a minute.)

I set the journal aside to work on the greeting card.

Note: I sort of worked on the card backward. It works okay to turn it inside out, but it’s not what I intended to do. Just a little heads up for you to NOT follow my example.

Alright, let’s pull out the NEW Distress Crayons by Tim Holtz.

The Distress Crayons say they are water-reactive, which they are. However, they didn’t do what I expected them to do, based on other water-soluble products I’ve used. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, because it’s good to have a variety of art supplies that do different things. Anyway, water-reactive is different from water-soluble, just FYI.

To get the look I wanted, I added a little fluorescent red liquid watercolor by Blick.

I think it is at this point that I realize my card is backwards. (I should have worked on the right-hand side for it to be the front of the folded card). You know, sometimes art making is problem solving. I decided to decorate the inside, so that the card could be folded in or out. Ta Da! A joyful solution!

I have been eager to try the fine tip applicators that are made for the Dina Wakley heavy body paint tubes.

This is my first attempt at using them.

I had a few questions after I tried them, and thought this video by Dina Wakley on YouTube might be helpful for you, too:

“Dina Wakley Introduction to the Fine Tip Applicator”

I used some Dina Wakley paint and played with the Distress Crayons some more. (I kind of couldn’t leave the Distress Crayons alone. I really wanted to get the hang of using them, as I love bright colors!) Pictured below, the right-hand side is the new front of the card, if I choose to fold it that way.

Now back to the art journal page. Like I said, I really couldn’t leave those Distress Crayons alone.

Both the Distress Crayons and Dina Wakley paint have a really soft and smooth texture to them. You’ll have to try them yourself to understand what I mean. I really enjoyed spreading the yellow paint around with my fingers.

I finished things up with a little more color and paint to get this cheerful journal page!

In summary, there are sooooo many great supplies available at artistcellar.com

I love the AC Pocket Stencils, the Dina Wakley paints, the spray inks, and the NEW Distress Crayons. I hope you feel inspired to give some of these awesome supplies a try in your card making, art journaling, or other mixed media projects!

Blessings to You!

Briana 

Mark Making Monday-Infinite Possibilities and Gratitude for Clues from the Universe That Guide Me

Hello and Happy Infinite Possibilities Day #infinitepossibilitiesday on August 8, 2016! (According to Mike Dooley, that's two infinity symbols in one day, which means amazing things!)

I would like to start this post by saying how worthy you are of self-love, compassion, belonging, and a sense of inner peace. Life is a journey. May your journey lead you to your sense of purpose, more love, and a connection to something greater.

Onto our regularly scheduled program  . . . it's Mark Making Monday!!

Actually, this Mark Making Monday post has a lot to do with #infinitepossibilitiesday, as the art journal pages I am about to share are about finding purpose, and listening to clues from the universe.

Yesterday, in DeAnne's art journaling workshop, she asked participants to reflect on gratitude.

What came up for me has to do with wholeness, a sense of purpose, and being grateful for the clues and messages from the universe that guide me.

Pictured below, you see the beginning stages of my art journal spread. The white marks are created from gesso through a stencil. I also used my finger to create circles and dots with the white gesso.

I feel that in this life, my path and purpose is about creative expression and healing.

With my hands I make art; I drum; and I move them as I dance. I give hugs and tender touches. I also feel the life force energy that connects all right here in the palm of my hand. 

Art Tip: Children's legos make for great dot patterns in art!

I am here to heal my own emotional wounds. I am here to express myself creatively. I am here to help others on their journeys to self-expression and emotional healing.

Art Tip: Dip a Stabilo 3-in-1 Woody in water, then draw with it on your journal page.

Art Tip: Your messy handwriting counts as mark making. Write messy on purpose to disguise personal text.

Ultimately, I am grateful for this path I am on. I am a deep person, who likes to connect with people and talk about the "real stuff" of life. Although moving through emotions is exhausting and painful, the serenity and peace on the other side is so worth the effort.

No matter where you are on your journey in this life, let it soak in that you are loved, loveable, and worthy of love.

Thanks for being here!

Many Blessings,

Briana